China :: Health :: Medicine

Today, Id like to start getting you all excited about something were releasing here in a couple of weeks. Ready? One of the things that Ive noticed, as a student and new practitioner, is the relative lack of industry publications in Chinese medicine. We have several decent scholarly journals ( Chinese Medicine Times , the Lantern ), and I expect their number to grow. These publications are wonderful to have and the mark of a maturing profession. They have high standards and tend to be very content-heavy with an academic/educational feel. Outside of the journals, we in the Chinese medicine profession have essentially only Acupuncture Today. While I respect what they do at Acupuncture Today, many folks have commented that the articles dont quite satisfy their urge for regular reading, not to mention the advertising can be a little bit heavy at times. T In other industries, such as massage therapy, there exist publications that serve to inform, entertain and connect the members of the p...

In China: anything is and was possible! During my trip to Beijing in October 2010 I would happen upon anything and everything on the streets. Here's a shocking example. This actually looks pretty. A different arrangement of articles.Tibetan prayer bowls, jade, bracelets, carved ink stamps, necklaces. Some animal parts for medicine. A mat laid out with different objects for sale. These were usually sold by Tibetans importing from their country (well now part of China...) In this bag there was a claw and it caught my attention, so I asked to have a better look It was bad enough to see a huge dismembered claw, but quite shockingly it appears to be a tiger claw. Later on I discovered that they tend to sell a lot of fakes on the streets. However this looks pretty convincing, although hopefully it's painted stripes on another animal, but anything is possible in China!

Dr. Andrew Weil, founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona recently appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. The topic of supplements and herbs was discussed, especially those for menopausal hot flashes and night sweat flair-ups. Dr. Weil suggested eating fresh ground flax seed, which is high in omega-3 and fiber, sprinkled on cereal or otherwise taking 20 mg of black cohosh twice daily in supplement form or as tea. I agree with Dr. suggestions but. What if black cohosh worked better when combined with a few other herbs? (Kind of like chicken soup. You add the chicken but if you add spices, carrots and celery it just taste a little better.) What if the herbs for menopause symptom relief had been proven effective by hundreds of clinical studies? What if a herbal tea that relieved hot flashes and night sweats was available in the U.S.? What if you knew this menopause relief herbal tea was completely safe to take long term and has been used my millions of people? Wh...

The Chinese Medicine Society is gearing up for the new semester here in Sydney and we are kicking it off with a talk by Will Maclean! Join the facebook book group to get further updates! http://www.facebook.com/damienbodnarchuk#!/group.php?gid=118857464831429

By: Billy Shonez Singh, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM) 2011 Cinnamon is used worldwide as a culinary additive and used in herbal medicine. Today I will talk about how it is used in promoting health based on East Asian medicine and Western pharmacology. You have two different kinds of cinnamon; you have the twigs (known in Mandarin as Gui Zhi) and the bark (known in Mandarin as Rou Gui ). The properties of the cinnamon twig (Gui Zhi) are different from cinnamon bark (Rou Gui). Gui Zhi is described as being sweet, pungent, and warm. Its functions are: Adjusting the ying (constructive) and wei (defensive) levels of the body. Therefore, it treats wind-cold deficiency which is characterized by Light sweat Weak pulse Fatigue Pale tongue Chills that are stronger than the fever It also treats wind-cold excess which is characterized by: Lack of sweating Floating and slow pulse Pale tongue Scratchy throat Aching muscles in the upper back and occiput Chills that are stronger than the...

Excuse the short deviation from my usual blogs on Chinese herbs and Traditional Chinese Medicine, (TCM) The the fact is, everything that is wrong with our food supply and as a result our health, is reflected by McDonald's oatmeal. Read on! Silly, gullible me, when I first heard a radio commercial advertising this new "healthy choice" McDonald's oatmeal, I actually thought it was a great new day and MickeyD's had seen the light. Fail! How To Make Oatmeal Wrong By MARK BITTMAN Theres a feeling of inevitability in writing about McDonalds latest offering, their full of wholesome also known as oatmeal. The leading fast-food multinational, with sales over $16.5 billion a year (just under the GDP of Afghanistan), represents a great deal of what is wrong with American food today. From a marketing perspective, they can do almost nothing wrong; from a nutritional perspective, they can do almost nothing right, as the oatmeal fiasco demonstrates. One positive often raised ab...

A friend of mine in Brisbane is doing an amazing job pioneering her own food empire. She's an amazing chef and a pasionate foodie and a great entrepaneur. Some of her blog entries:" The olive that made mefall onmy knees!", gives you a glimpse of her outragious food desire! Not only that, she puts her great raw food recipes online. Check out the healthy and delicious chia seed porridge. http://www.rawandpeace.com.au/index.html Have a look and if you're in Brisbane, Australia check out her cafe and food stalls.